of its
early beginnings should be told, and I am in a position to tell the
tale.

As all the first contributors of the _Town Crier_ have ceased--most of
them long since ceased--to have any connection with the paper, there can
be no harm now in referring to its original staff, if only as a little
matter of local history. I may, therefore, place it on record that the
contributors to the first number of the _Town Crier_, which was
published in January, 1861, were Mr. Sam Timmins, Mr. J. Thackray Bunce,
Mr. G.J. Johnson, Dr. (then Mr.) Sebastian Evans, and the present
writer, Thomas Anderton.

Some two or three months after its first appearance the late Mr. John
Henry Chamberlain joined the staff, and a little later still Mr. William
Harris became one of the "table round." With this staff the paper was
carried on for many years, and with more or less success, according to
the point of view from which it was considered. Being of a satirical
character it, of course, often rapped certain people over the knuckles
in a way they did not appreciate. They naturally resented being chaffed
and held up to ridicule, but as there was nothing of a malicious or
private character in the sarcasms published any little soreness they
created soon died away.

One reason why the _Town Crier_ came into existence was because it was
felt that there were certain things, and perhaps certain people, who
could be best assailed and suppressed by ridicule. They could be laughed
and chaffed rather than reasoned out of existence. Certainly the paper
was not established with any idea of profit, nor for the gratification
of indulging in scurrilous personal attacks. It only dealt with public
affairs and with men in their public capacity. Indeed, I may say that
all the men connected with the _Town Crier_ at its starting were
interested in the good government and progress of the town, and they
used the influence of the paper for the purpose of removing stumbling
blocks, and putting incompetent and pretentious persons out of the way.

As so much interest has lately been created by the descriptions given of
the _Punch_ dinners and the doings of the _Punch_ staff, I may state
that the promoters of our local _Charivari_ also combined pleasant
social intercourse with their journalistic functions. The monthly
dinners of the _Town Crier_ staff remain in my memory as being among the
most delightful and genial evenings I have ever spent in my life. We met
at each